UNITED STATES:REPUBLICAN VICE-PRESIDENTIAL candidate Sarah Palin has claimed that Barack Obama has disqualified himself from the presidency by making "reckless" statements about American foreign policy
Speaking in St Louis a day after she faced Democrat Joe Biden in the only vice-presidential debate of the campaign, Ms Palin claimed that Mr Obama has said that US troops in Afghanistan are "just air-raiding villages and killing civilians".
Mrs Palin and Mr Biden clashed in St Louis over Iraq, the economy and the qualities of their running mates, showing flashes of humour, passion and sharply contrasting styles.
Mrs Palin confounded expectations following a series of difficult television interviews by delivering a confident performance, addressing many of her remarks directly to the camera in a folksy, vernacular style.
Mr Biden appeared uneasy during the first half of the 90-minute debate, often lapsing into political jargon, but regained his footing later to make an impassioned case for a change of direction in Washington. The Democrat said Mrs Palin and Republican presidential candidate John McCain promised nothing more than a continuation of the policies of President Bush.
"Say it ain't so, Joe, there you go again, pointing backwards again," she replied. "You preferenced your whole comment with the Bush administration. Now doggone it, let's look ahead and tell Americans what we have to plan to do for them in the future." From the start, Mrs Palin sought to frame the policy debate in accessible terms, answering a question about the current financial crisis by talking about how average Americans are faring economically.
"You know, I think a good barometer here, as we try to figure out has this been a good time or a bad time in America's economy, is go to a kid's soccer game on Saturday, and turn to any parent there on the sideline and ask them, 'How are you feeling about the economy?' ", she said. "And I'll bet you, you're going to hear some fear in that parent's voice, fear regarding the few investments that some of us have in the stock market. Did we just take a major hit with those investments? Fear about how are we going to afford to send our kids to college?"
Mrs Palin, who had sometimes appeared uncertain about policy in interviews, was confident during most of the debate as she was questioned about the economy, energy, healthcare, gay rights and foreign policy. She smiled at her opponent throughout the debate but she was quick to attack, characterising Mr Biden as a conventional Washington establishment figure. "We're tired of the old politics as usual," she said.
"And that's why, with all due respect, I do respect your years in the US Senate, but I think Americans are craving something new and different and that new energy and that new commitment that's going to come with reform."
Mr Biden mangled some early responses and sometimes became bogged down in explaining Senate voting procedures but he delivered sharp responses on Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
When Mrs Palin said she shared Dick Cheney's understanding of the role of the vice-president, suggesting that its powers could be expanded further, Mr Biden issued a blistering response.
"Vice-president Cheney has been the most dangerous vice-president we've had probably in American history," he said. "The idea he's part of the legislative branch is a bizarre notion invented by Cheney to aggrandise the power of a unitary executive and look where it has gotten us. It has been very dangerous."
When Mrs Palin invoked her experience as a mother as evidence that she understood the concerns of ordinary Americans, Mr Biden spoke of his experience as a single father of two boys after his first wife and daughter died in a car crash when he was 29.
"When my wife and daughter died and my two sons were gravely injured, I understand what it's like as a parent to wonder what it's like if your kid's going to make it," he said, choking up with emotion.
"The notion that somehow, because I'm a man, I don't know what it's like to raise two kids alone, I don't know what it's like to have a child you're not sure is going to - is going to make it. I understand, as well as, with all due respect, the governor or anybody else, what it's like for those people sitting around that kitchen table. And guess what? They're looking for help. They're looking for help. They're not looking for more of the same."